On initial scan, it looks to be an excellent cookbook - there are dozens of recipes I have marked as candidates. As expected there is a pizza section. And as you would expect, the dough recipe is adapted for baking in a home kitchen oven on a stone. With one exception, there are no surprises in the toppings - the usual suspects with some fancier pizzas that seem inspired by Chez Panisse (Alice Waters wrote the book's foreword). I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with these recipes, but there is little here to see for serious pizza makers.

However, there was one pizza that caught my attention, the "Mushroom Pizza". I am a massive fan of white pizzas with mushrooms and this one looked good. And it was profoundly good! A splash of white wine vinegar in the sauteed mushrooms added a great zing. I used 7 kinds of mushrooms on a 2-day, room-temp, wild Russian starter crust.

My plan was to bake these pizzas in the WFO, but I was distracted while mixing the dough and used Giustos Bread flour instead of Caputo 00. So I decided to bake on a steel plate in the kitchen oven instead. Came out fine.

There is a very appealing "Crostini" section in the book with 16 recipes. Since I am drowning in red and golden cherry tomatoes, I adapted the "Roasted Cherry Tomatoes with Ricotta" as a pizza topping.

So I am guessing you saute up the 'shrooms in some evoo and a splash of white wine vinegar just before they are done? Let them cool down a bit and if what I read on Slice is correct use some mozzarella and Gran Padano? I'd like to try this out this weekend. Thanks

So I am guessing you saute up the 'shrooms in some evoo and a splash of white wine vinegar just before they are done? Let them cool down a bit and if what I read on Slice is correct use some mozzarella and Gran Padano? I'd like to try this out this weekend. Thanks

Mushrooms are divided up into fast cooking and slower cooking varieties and cooked separately in olive oil for 1 minute. Salt and pepper added. Cooked until well caramelized. Removed from heat and placed in bowl. Chopped rosemary and sage added and tossed. Then garlic and vinegar stirred in. Mozzarella (buffalo preferred). Parm added after baking along with sprinkling of sea salt and drizzle of olive oil.

Bill, really nice mushroom pie. Seven types of mushrooms? Where have I been? I use buttom mushrooms, shitake, and portabello. What additional shrooms would you recommend? I'd settle for a couple more - I do not want to bite off more than I can chew! Thanks Mark

Bill, really nice mushroom pie. Seven types of mushrooms? Where have I been? I use buttom mushrooms, shitake, and portabello. What additional shrooms would you recommend? I'd settle for a couple more - I do not want to bite off more than I can chew! Thanks Mark

Mark,

This pie had button, cremini, shiitake, maitake, oyster, porcini, and trumpet. No such thing as too many mushrooms.

Your post reminded me of a dinner we had a few months ago at the Chez Panisse cafe. A friend ordered pizza and I had a slice. What impressed me was that the crust had an "eggshell" texture - very thin crisp shell but the rim dough underneath was nice and fluffy.

Any hints in there as to how that was achieved? They use a wfo and I asked about temperature and cooking time. The waiter told us the oven was "very hot" and the pizza cooked as fast as 5 minutes. So, I was guessing it was at 600 or so.

I ate pizza upstairs in the cafe often in the '80's and 90's; that was long before I appreciated that the crust is the most important part of the pizza, so what I remember most are the glorious toppings. I do not recall the crust being anything special. I do know that back then they brushed the rim with a super tasty olive oil after baking.

However, the "eggshell" crust you describe is something I strive for in every WFO pizza I make at 900F+ and under 60 seconds. I am certain that it is a combination of both extreme heat and short baking time. That is why I am so focused on not over-baking which can destroy the delicate crust.

Others that bake in a cooler oven with a longer bake might be better able to guess how Chez Panisse achieves this. Perhaps they also brush the rim with oil before or during baking?

However, the "eggshell" crust you describe is something I strive for in every WFO pizza I make at 900F+ and under 60 seconds. I am certain that it is a combination of both extreme heat and short baking time. That is why I am so focused on not over-baking which can destroy the delicate crust.

Today I had a chance to try out the Ricotta, Buffalo Mozzarella, Oregano, and Cherry Tomato Pizza (page 256). I still have an abundance of cherry tomatoes and the recipe in the book for roasting them is great. The recipe has you add the roasted tomatoes to the pizza after baking, which was perfect. My departures from the recipe in the book:

- I used a fresh cow's milk mozzarella. I won't use a bufalo unless it is really fresh and the stuff around here is never good.

- Even though the title of the recipe says "oregano", there was no mention of it in the ingredients or directions. Basil is called for, so I think there is a typo in the title.

- The amount of oil called for (drizzle on before baking, drizzle on some of the oil from the tomatoes after baking, and then drizzle on more olive oil) is excessive. There was a pool of oil in the center of the first pizza (photo below). Subsequent pizzas had oil only drizzled on at the very end.

- The recipe calls for sprinkling on grated parm after baking. I did not like this at all. After the first pizza, I put it on before baking. Much better.